Solar Powered Vole Repellers - Do They Work?

[SeaBreeze]

We've owned this house for over 30 years, and just once in awhile would see a hole around the edge of our back yard, with some dirt piled up around it. We knew there was some kind of critter around, and voles have been known to be in the area.

Well, there was never a real issue, until late this past summer. A vole(s) started making numerous holes in the yard. They started around the edges, where there's no grass, so we didn't care much. Then they started to make more holes and piles of dirt in the little bit of lawn area that we have.

My husband called me to look out the back window one day, and sure enough, a little brown pointy head was sticking out of one of the holes. First year that it was ever a problem, but if it continues this spring/summer, our back yard will look like a land mine.

We just got one of these catalogs in the mail, and it advertises a mole repeller, that's supposed to be good for all similar rodents. If it works, and wouldn't be harmful to our cat or dog, I may want to try it.

Has anyone ever used one of these solar repellers? Have you ever had to get rid of moles/voles on your property? Did you use something natural that was effective? http://www.heartlandamerica.com/browse/item.asp?PIN=163534&DL=GAW1&SC=WIG20001&

 

[Happyflowerlady]

I tried one of those sub-sonic repellers that was supposed to get rid of bugs and rodents. It might have done some good, but I think we would have had to have more of them for the whole yard.

My first mother-in-law (a very PROPER English lady), one summer discovered a mole, or maybe a gopher, digging tunnels and making little mounds in her back yard. Nothing she tried worked, and every day or so, there were new holes.
Finally, she had had enough, and she took the garden hose, and stuck it down one of the holes, water running full blast. She filled in all of the other holes except one, so there was only one exit for him to get out from the rapidly flooding tunnel.

There, she waited, until he finally poked his little brown head out of the ground; at which point, she grabbed him by the nose with her needle-nose pliers, dragged him out of the tunnel, and stabbed him to death with her little paring knife !
Yep, she really did that...... sweet little old English Grandmother Lady.

It was the favorite family story for years afterward, but Grandma never had any more moles in her back yard after that. You did NOT mess with that lady!

 

[Diwundrin]

Hope they work better on voles than snakes, which is .. not too well judging by the lack of sales and excitement. Maybe the coastal councils will get floating ones for the sharks?

Depends if you want your lawns full of holes or plastic sticks really. They don't have a very big range so you'd need heaps of them cover the area. Can't you just bait them?

 

[SeaBreeze]

Wow Happyflowerlady, you had my interest with the water hose, but the needle-nose pliers and paring knife are more than I'm willing to do, LOL!

 

[Happyflowerlady]

Wow Happyflowerlady, you had my interest with the water hose, but the needle-nose pliers and paring knife are more than I'm willing to do, LOL!

Me, too, Seabreeze ! ! There are other methods you can try though. I think the sub-sonic screecher thing we had, did actually scare off the rats or squirrels, whatever had been eating my little garden veggies. They didn't make any holes though, they were the above-ground type.
You might be able to catch one in a live trap, but I am not sure what would work for bait.
Also, they are not supposed to like noise and vibration in the ground, so a noisy windmill type of thing might work.
My mom used to put pop bottles in the ground aimed to catch the prevailing wind, and make noise. She called them "hoo-bottles", and said they kept the moles away.

 

[That Guy]

No.